Basic hunting load

[Nomad]

 Asked this question the other day.
 How many rounds do you carry into the field for hunting, deer 20, elk 20, but varmints
that is different squirrels a bunch and chucks well maybe 100 or so..
 What do you carry into the field?

[Scarecrow]

I carried 5 with my 30-30 for pig, and 18 rounds of .357 for utility. 

I could see maybe using 3 shots total on a pig - that'd be one miss, one poor hit and one to finish it.  That'd be a bad day, but I don't think it's inconceivable.  That gives me two cartridges for seconding another hunter, or lending him my rifle if his goes down.

For varminting I'd take a few hundred rounds - depends on how many varmints you figure you'll run into.

[luvmy45]

Deer and elk, minimum 15. 5 in the gun 10 in a belt/pack pouch. That would be day trip count... if I'm in the field overnight or are going to be doing a lot of hiking, I'll throw another 20 in the pack, so total 35...

Only need 1 for the elk/deer  , but might need more for survival, or protection from other things that go boo in the night.

rodents and the like... as many as I can pack Hate to have to go home early if I run out of ammo.

[NoviceHunter]

3-4 in the gun, depending on caliber, and 5 more on the buttstock.  If I have a handgun, it'll be loaded but that's it (5 .357 or 15 10mm.)

I'll start to feel embarassed if I have to load the ones in the buttstock, though.   

[agunforeachhand]

20-40 rounds of .30-06 and however many rounds feels light enough in my backpack for my glock23.


As for varmints you can never have enough rounds.

[Jeff]

The zombie apocalypse can happen anytime.  Even when you are hunting.  Make sure you have enough to get home or to the BOL. 

[NoviceHunter]

While the zombie load is tempting, I average around 80 miles of very steep hiking, at altitude, during the 9 days of elk season.  By the end of that, I'm pretty much resenting every extra bullet I'm carrying.  I don't have horses or atv's, so I do a lot of walking (that's the part I enjoy.)  And that's *before* I have to carry the meat out.  Same reason my awesome 8oz fixed blade custom knife stays at home, in favor of a 2oz mora clipper.  All my extra weight is allocated to the minimum gear necessary to survive a night in those conditions.  Without zombies.  I guess I'll have to take the zombie risk.

Maybe if I got off my ass and lost the spare tire, I'd have room for more ammo. 

[Jeff]

Keep the zombie load out in the truck. 

[NoviceHunter]

Keep the zombie load out in the truck. 

Well, I assumed that was a given. 

[egress81]

about 20 rounds for elk/deer

about 2-20 round Pmags for coyotes and more in the truck

rock chucks a 50 round box of reloads on me and another 50 in the truck as have to hike a bit to my chucking spots